Ørsted Launch Round 3 of the “Skills Fund” for Coastal Areas of Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and North Norfolk

2019-04-24T09:00:00.0000000Z

The third annual round of Ørsted’s East Coast Skills Fund is now open to applications. £55,000 will be available again through an open application process to experienced organisations that can develop and deliver Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) related training or education courses, a one-off event, or a programme of targeted events.

The full £55,000 may be awarded to one organisation or split between a number of groups that apply. The minimum grant organisations can apply for is £10,000, and the closing date for applications is 4 September.

A further £20,000 will again be targeted at colleges within the Fund’s coastal area of benefit and will be used to help finance local students who are unable to access traditional funding streams for support.

Imran Nawaz, Stakeholder Advisor at Ørsted UK, said: “The East Coast Skills Fund has already helped support some excellent projects across the region aimed at improving local skills and employment opportunities. We are firmly committed to our vision to create a world that runs entirely on green energy and supporting the uptake of STEM skills is a big part of achieving that goal.”

The Skills Fund forms part of the company’s £465,000 East Coast Community Fund 20-year annual commitment and is part of the community engagement programme for Ørsted’s Hornsea Project One and Race Bank offshore wind farms, which are located off the Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and North Norfolk coast.

Both wind farms combined will be capable of providing enough energy for over one and a half million homes.

The Fund is being administered by the independent grant-making charity GrantScape. For further information about the Fund and to find out how to apply, please visit their website www.grantscape.org.uk or call 01908 247634.

Round 2 of the Fund resulted in financial support to four projects. The Teacher Scientist Network was awarded £22,985 to provide 12 schools in the funding area free access to all the necessary components to run a four week, after-school, STEM club focused on the assembly of a working wind turbine. £20,000 went to STEM Learning to fund an ENTHUSE Partnership in the East Riding of Yorkshire.

Franklin College were awarded £12,015 to support students in their STEM academy undertake paid internships, enabling them to gain vital work experience, and £10,000 was awarded to support West Norfolk Academies Trust schools in King's Lynn, Hunstanton and West Walton through the West Norfolk STEM Catalyst project.

Details of the successful recipients from previous rounds can been seen on GrantScape’s website.

The Ørsted vision is a world that runs entirely on green energy. Ørsted develops, constructs and operates offshore wind farms, bioenergy plants and innovative waste-to-energy solutions and provides smart energy products to its customers. Headquartered in Denmark, Ørsted employs 5,600 people, including over 900 in the UK. Ørsted's shares are listed on Nasdaq Copenhagen (Orsted). In 2017, the group's revenue was DKK 59.5 billion (EUR 8.0 billion). For more information on Ørsted, visit orsted.co.uk or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter.

About GrantScape

GrantScape is a grant-making charity committed to enhancing the environment and strengthening local communities through its grant programmes. GrantScape’s experience stretches back to 1997 and it has awarded grants totalling over £80 million to deserving projects over this time.

GrantScape manages a range of community and environmental grant programmes on behalf of corporate and local authority clients. These are tailored to their individual requirements, which is the charity’s speciality. In addition, GrantScape offers a professional project management and grant process review service to groups requiring support with these activities.

Ørsted has committed to a Community Fund worth approximately £465,000 each year for 20 years. £75,000 of the Fund each year is ring-fenced for a ‘Skills Fund’.

The Fund supports community and environmental projects along the Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and the North Norfolk coasts (as far as Wells-next-the-Sea), within a defined area. It is split equally between two annual funding rounds. There are two levels of grants available:

Small grants between £1,000 and £5,000

Main grants between £5,001 and £50,000

Applications to the Fund are made using an online application system via the GrantScape website: www.grantscape.org.uk.

The Ørsted vision is a world that runs entirely on green energy. Ørsted develops, constructs and operates offshore and onshore wind farms, solar farms, energy storage facilities, and bioenergy plants, and provides energy products to its customers. Globally, Ørsted is the market leader in offshore wind and it is constructing the world’s biggest offshore wind farms off the East Coast of the UK. Its UK offshore wind farms generate enough clean electricity for over three million UK homes. Ørsted ranks #1 in Corporate Knights' 2020 index of the Global 100 most sustainable corporations in the world and is recognised on the CDP Climate Change A List as a global leader on climate action. Headquartered in Denmark, Ørsted employs 6,500 people, including over 1000 in the UK. Ørsted's shares are listed on Nasdaq Copenhagen (Orsted). In 2019, the group's revenue was DKK 67.8 billion (EUR 9.1 billion).